University Honors

Gender disparities between men and women have deep historical roots. In present dayMexico and Brazil, these disparities follow women all the way to death. The female murder ratein these two countries far surpasses that of men, and my research question is: WHY? Case aftercase there has been very little accountability done to the murderers of these women, and therehas been no progress in preventing the murder rate as it has been climbing. The female murderrate has a name, and this is known as femicide. Women are at risk of falling victim to this crimeevery single day. The daily lives of women in Latin American countries are being tampered withthe fear of not being able to see their loved ones the next day, or to be unable to continueexperiencing their lives. Because of this, I want to examine why the legal system has allowed themurder rates in Mexico and Brazil continue to rise each year. In 2022, Brazil was the numberone country with the highest rate of Femicides in Latin America, Mexico was also in the top ten.I will use research by historians, political scientists, legal scholars, and journalists as well ascrime statistics to explore the explanations that have been proposed and understand why thiskeeps happening and is getting worse.